Jon Markman

Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options

Jon Markman is the editor of Trader’s Advantage, a daily trading service that leverages his unique swing trading principles and aims to capture profits of 7% to 15% — and often much more with his options trades — in less than 90 days. By combining technical analysis with underlying fundamentals, Jon recommends beaten down stocks on the brink of reversal and powerful momentum stocks breaking out to new highs.

In CounterPoint Options Jon helps options traders lock in consistent profits from the volatility that rocks the market. At its heart is a proprietary trading system, Magnitude, that pinpoints indexes or sectors that have reached a critical inflection point — then translates that signal into profitable trades.

CounterPoint Options keeps volatility options trading very simple, focusing on the most popular, highly traded exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are headed for a key reversal. Magnitude scans the market and allows subscribers to take advantage of these very liquid trading opportunities.

When CounterPoint Options first launched, it was focused solely on trading the VIX, commonly known as the “fear index.” When traders start buying up put options as “portfolio insurance,” the VIX spikes — a phenomenon that we’ll either trade directly, or use to inform our ETF trades on specific slices of the market. Our agile (and highly lucrative) strategy lets us turn volatility into profits… just like professional traders and hedge funds have been doing for years.

CounterPoint Options helps individual traders make steady, consistent profits from a very methodical approach to growing your portfolio in the midst of a turbulent market.

A pioneer in the development of stock-rating systems and screening software, Jon Markman is co-inventor on two Microsoft patents and author of the best-selling books Swing Trading and Online Investing. He was portfolio manager and senior investment strategist at a multi-strategy hedge fund from 2002 to 2005; managing editor and columnist at CNBC on MSN Money from 1997 to 2002; and an editor, investment columnist and investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 1997.

Jon won a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Financial Journalism for his columns explaining market chicanery in 2002; Society of Professional Journalists awards for his 2001 reporting on Enron and the post-Sept. 11-investment environment; and was a news editor on the Los Angeles Times staff that won Pulitzer Prizes for spot-news reporting in 1992 and 1994.

A graduate of Duke University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Jon speaks frequently on investment topics at conferences nationwide, as well as on TV and radio.

Recent Articles

More Reasons the Bulls are Back

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Mar 31, 2010

News on the economy continues to support the bulls' case. Here are some data points assembled by analysts at ISI Group this week:

Consumer Spending Now Tops 2008 Peak … Really!

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Mar 25, 2010

Some new data out of ISI Group puts the surprising strength of the American public in full view. The data shows that nominal consumer spending made a new high four months ago and is now clearly above its 2008 peak (based on core retail sales, February spending probably rose 0.5%).

Global Banking Set for a Comeback

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Mar 24, 2010

One of my most out-of-consensus ideas at the moment is that regional banks stocks are on the verge of new swing higher. And that means it just might be crazy enough to come true. Sentiment is terrible: The February 2010 Fund Manager Survey ranked global bank stocks as the most underweighted sector by institutional investors.

Do Market Milestones Matter?

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Mar 22, 2010

A couple of milestones for world markets were hit in the past week. The S and P 500 is up 70% since its March 9 low, which is nice as far as it goes but more importantly for the real economy, vehicle production in the United States is up 45%, semiconductor sales are up 48% worldwide, China retail sales are up 32%, U.S. chain store sales are up 4% and if you put it all together and take out labor, you'll see that corporate profits are up 40%.

Varian Medical (VAR) is Radiating Profits

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Mar 15, 2010

One of the strongest stock picks of my stock model this month has been Varian Medical Systems (VAR), which provides radiation technology solutions that assist doctors treating cancer. Shares are up 7.2% for my subscribers in March so far, which will just about pay for six hours in the hospital. I still recommend it on dips for growth investors.